britishcomicsfandomcom-20200215-history
Tharg's Future Shocks
"Out in the vast reaches of the universe, there are an infinite number of stories waiting to be told. From chronicles of the lowliest swamp denizens in backwater galaxies to the rise and fall of rulers of entire star systems, anything is possible in these twisted tales. Abandon your preconceptions, expect the unexpected, and take a trip beyond the edges of the imagination..." Tharg's Future Shocks, sometimes entitled simply Future Shocks, is a long-running series of one-off short stories which has run intermittently in the pages of 2000 AD since 1977 (2000 AD prog 25), the first ever story being written by Steve Moore. Typically, these stories are four- or five-page science fiction shorts, usually comedic or semi-comedic and always with a twist ending. Future Shocks have over the years been an entry point into greater success in 2000 AD for a number of writers and artists who have gone on to bigger and better things, including Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman. Though the stories are usually unconnected, some have occasionally spawned sequels or even led to ongoing series for popular characters, including Agent Rat, Bradley, Joe Black, Abelard Snazz and Ulysses Sweet. Tharg, of course, is 2000 AD's alien editor, who occasionally acted as host to the early stories. The stories have been collected into a number of trade paperbacks. The success of the Future Shocks series has inspired the creation of numerous imitator series, including: *''Bob Byrne's Twisted Tales'' (stories told without words) *''Past Imperfect'' (alternative history) *''Pulp Sci-Fi'' *''Ro-Jaws' Robo-Tales'' (which introduced Abelard Snazz) *''Tales from Beyond Science'' (all drawn by Rian Hughes) *''Tales from the Black Museum'' (based in the world of Judge Dredd) *''Tales of Telguuth'' (all set on the planet Telguuth and written by Steve Moore) *''Tharg's 3rillers'' (three-part stories) *''Tharg's Dragon Tales'' *''Tharg's Future Shorts'' (one-page Future Shocks) *''Tharg's Terror Tales'' (a horror-themed series) *''Tharg's Time Twisters'' (which saw the first appearance of D.R. & Quinch) *''Vector 13'' All of these are in 2000 AD, apart from Tales from the Black Museum, which is published in the Judge Dredd Megazine, and Bob Byrne's Twisted Tales, which has appeared in both. Trivia According to PJ Holden, the rules for Future Shocks include 'no VR prison stories', because it's an over-used trope in comics. (Source: Twitter.) People who have worked on Tharg's Future Shocks *Dan Abnett *Jeff Anderson *Mick Austin *Steven Austin *Edmund Bagwell *Jim Baikie *David Baillie *Stephen Baskerville *Paul Bensberg *Gary Blatchford *Tim Bollard *Simon Bowland *Eric Bradbury *Nick Brokenshire *Mark Buckingham *Mike Carey *Michael Carroll *Jose Casanovas *John Charles *Andy Clarke *Colin Clayton *Simon Coleby *Mike Collins *Boo Cook *John Cooper *Eoin Coveney *Dondie Cox *Carl Critchlow *I. N. J. Culbard *Paul Davidson *Alan Davis *Jon Davis-Hunt *Rufus Dayglo *Jamie Delano *Andy Diggle *D'Israeli *Nigel Dobbyn *Chris Dows *Daniel Dwyer *Nick Dyer *T.C. Eglington *Jim Eldridge *Richard Elson *Al Ewing *Brett Ewins *Mark Eyles *Glenn Fabry *Mark Farmer *Martin Feekins *Jose Luis Ferrer *Robert Flynn *Tom Frame *Pierre Frisano *Neil Gaiman *Leigh Gallagher *Lee Garbett *Jan Garczynski *Dave Gibbons *Igor Goldkind *Trevor Goring *Kelvin Gosnell *Josep Gual *Mike Hadley *Peter Harris *Simon Harrison *Jon Haward *Alan Hebden *John Hicklenton *John Higgins *David Hine *Peter Hogan *PJ Holden *Kev Hopgood *Sally Jane Hurst *Frazer Irving *Simon Jacob *Tilen Javornik *Staz Johnson *Johnny Johnstone *Anthony Jozwiak *Shaky Kane *Ian Kennedy *Barry Kitson *Peter Knight *Alan Langford *Garry Leach *Jody LeHeup *Dan Lester *Vince Locke *Chris Lowder *Jake Lynch *Steve MacManus *Paul Marshall *Brendan McCarthy *Jim McCarthy *Rory McConville *Mark Millar *David Millgate *Peter Milligan *Inaki Miranda *Alan McKenzie *Alan Moore *Steve Moore *Grant Morrison *Robbie Morrison *Andrea Mutti *Paul Neary *José Ortiz *Keith Page *Joe Palmer *Jefte Palo *Annie Parkhouse *Steve Parkhouse *Pye Parr *Paul Peart *James Peaty *Mike Perkins *Tim Perkins *D. Perry *Carlos Pino *Roy Preston *David Pugh *Arthur Ranson *Kim Raymond *Nigel Raynor *Jesús Redondo *Graeme Neil Reid *Wayne Reynolds *Gary Rice *Ian Richardson *John Ridgway *Ian Rimmer *Steve Roberts *Hilary Robinson *Eddie Robson *Geoff Senior *Liam Sharp *Siku *Will Simpson *John Smith *Robin Smith *Ron Smith *Smudge *Ramon Sola *Simon Spurrier *Richard Starkings *Oleh Stepaniuk *Chris Stevens *John Stokes *Lee Sullivan *Bryan Talbot *Dylan Teague *Ron Tiner *John Tomlinson *Tiernen Trevallion *Ron Turner *Kek-W *Kevin Walker *Chris Weston *Mike White *Win Wiacek *Anthony Williams *Andrew Williamson *Brian Williamson *Ben Willsher *Colin Wilson *Alec Worley *Pat Wright *Arthur Wyatt *Steve Yeowell Category:IPC Adventure strips Category:Adventure strips Category:IPC/Fleetway Publications Category:2000 AD strips Category:John Hicklenton/Artist Category:Jesús Redondo/Artist Category:David Millgate/Artist Category:Colin Wilson/Artist Category:Simon Harrison/Artist Category:Paul Marshall/Artist Category:Eoin Coveney/Artist Category:Richard Elson/Artist Category:Peter Milligan/Writer Category:Mike Carey/Writer Category:Edmund Bagwell/Artist Category:Chris Weston/Artist Category:Glenn Fabry/Artist Category:Jon Haward/Artist Category:Staz Johnson/Artist Category:Brett Ewins/Artist Category:Dylan Teague/Artist Category:Mike Perkins/Artist Category:Jon Davis-Hunt/Artist Category:Alec Worley/Writer Category:Jim Baikie/Artist Category:Garry Leach/Artist Category:Steve MacManus/Writer Category:Eddie Robson/Writer Category:Leigh Gallagher/Artist Category:PJ Holden/Artist Category:Arthur Wyatt/Writer Category:Liam Sharp/Artist Category:Brendan McCarthy/Artist Category:Dave Gibbons/Artist Category:Rufus Dayglo/Artist Category:Michael Carroll/Writer Category:Anthony Jozwiak/Artist Category:Ian Kennedy/Artist Category:Carlos Pino/Artist Category:Alan Hebden/Writer Category:Chris Lowder/Writer Category:Will Simpson/Artist Category:Paul Johnson/Artist Category:Alan McKenzie/Writer Category:John Tomlinson/Writer Category:Arthur Ranson/Artist Category:Mike Hadley/Artist Category:Simon Jacob/Artist Category:Carl Critchlow/Artist Category:Mark Buckingham/Artist Category:Shaky Kane/Artist Category:John Higgins/Artist Category:Robbie Morrison/Writer Category:Kev Hopgood/Artist Category:Nigel Dobbyn/Artist Category:Daniel Dwyer/Artist Category:David Baillie/Writer Category:Dan Lester/Writer Category:Peter Hogan/Writer Category:Robin Smith/Artist Category:David Hine/Writer Category:David Hine/Artist Category:Kek-W/Writer Category:Dondie Cox/Colourist Category:Ian "I.N.J." Culbard/Artist Category:Ian "I.N.J." Culbard/Writer Category:Graeme Neil Reid/Artist Category:Tiernen Trevallion/Artist Category:Paul Davidson/Artist Category:John Charles/Artist Category:Mark Harrison/Cover Artist Category:Wayne Reynolds/Artist Category:Bryan Talbot/Artist Category:Jake Lynch/Artist Category:Nick Dyer/Artist Category:Gary Blatchford/Writer Category:John Cooper/Artist Category:Jose Casanovas/Artist Category:Mick Austin/Artist Category:Simon Bowland/Letterer Category:Sally Jane Hurst/Writer Category:Mike White/Artist Category:Jeff Anderson/Artist Category:Hilary Robinson/Writer Category:Tim Perkins/Artist Category:Barry Kitson/Artist Category:Smudge/Artist Category:Stephen Baskerville/Artist Category:Al Ewing/Writer Category:Johnny Johnstone/Artist Category:Kelvin Gosnell/Writer Category:Eric Bradbury/Artist Category:Ron Tiner/Artist Category:Tim Skomski/Letterer Category:D. Perry/Writer Category:Jim Eldridge/Artist Category:Paul Bensberg/Letterer Category:Roy Preston/Writer Category:Inaki Miranda/Artist Category:Joe Palmer/Artist Category:Rory McConville/Writer Category:Pye Parr/Artist Category:Trevor Goring/Artist Category:Robert Flynn/Writer Category:Pierre Frisano/Artist Category:Gary Rice/Writer Category:Alan Langford/Artist Category:Peter Knight/Letterer Category:Martin Feekins/Writer Category:Vince Locke/Artist Category:Geoff Senior/Artist Category:Geoff Senior/Penciler Category:José Ortiz/Artist Category:Andrew Williamson/Writer Category:Tilen Javornik/Artist Category:Steve Yeowell/Artist Category:Steve Yeowell/Penciler Category:Steve Yeowell/Inker Category:Keith Page/Artist Category:John Ridgway/Artist Category:John Ridgway/Penciler Category:John Ridgway/Inker Category:Peter Harris/Writer Category:Nigel Dobbyn/Penciler Category:Simon Spurrier/Writer Category:Jon Davis-Hunt/Penciler Category:Jon Davis-Hunt/Inker Category:James Peaty/Writer Category:Andrea Mutti/Artist Category:Tiernen Trevallion/Penciler Category:Tiernen Trevallion/Inker Category:Graeme Neil Reid/Penciler Category:Graeme Neil Reid/Inker Category:Steven Austin/Artist Category:Pat Wright/Artist